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A freight train traveling through Texas’s Reeves County was derailed after it collided with a tractor trailer, before slamming into a building leaving on person dead, according to city officials.
Officials in Pecos City declared a major accident after the train crashed into the town’s Chamber of Commerce building near the intersection of Oak Street and Dot Stafford Street.
Authorties were on the scene gathering details and assessing the situation after it came off its tracks just before 5.00 p.m. on Wednesday.
County officials said that one person had been killed and another four people injured, including one casualty who sustained serious wounds. They were transported to an Odessa hospital for treatment, authorities said.
The three other casualties were treated at a local hopsital, officials said.
“We did have a tractor trailer struck by a train which did cause a derailment a little before 5.00 p.m. today,” Pecos City manager Charles Lino confirmed to reporters on Wednesday evening.
It is not clear how the tractor trailer was positioned on the tracks. It was not addressed whether the victims were inside the building or out when the train collided. The condiiton of the driver is not known.
The public has been urged to avoid the area for safety reasons, authorites said in a public notice on Wednesday evening.
Harrowing footage shared to Facebook by Reeves County officials shows the magnitute of the crash, including train cars strewn besides the tracks.
Police, firefighters, ambulences and other vehicles aoppearing to attempt to clear up the area are also seen in the video.
Three train cars that carried potentially hazardous materials were derail, however, there were no know leaks of the dangerous cargo. The only leak was diesel from an engine that has since been contained.
Eddie Morales Jr, a local state representative, said on Facebook that he has been contacted the Texas Department of Emergency Management and local other officials.
No othee details have been releasd. An update is expected at 10.00 a.m. local time on Thursday morning.
This is a breaking story. More to follow.
